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Jang Dong-hyuk, head of the situation room for the ruling People Power Party’s election campaign, holds an emergency press conference at the party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, on June 2, criticizing as a “fraud on the public” reports claiming that Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings and one of the world’s top three investors, had endorsed Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung. / Source: Yonhap News

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) on June 2 demanded the withdrawal of Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, calling a recent false claim about an endorsement by renowned investor Jim Rogers a clear case of "spreading false information."

At a press conference held at the PPP’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Jang Dong-hyuk, head of the party’s election situation room, said, “At this point, we should regard Lee as an international fraud candidate or a voice-phishing candidate. In a democratic country, someone who commits this level of deception in a presidential race should step down.”

Jang criticized, “This has caused national embarrassment on the global stage and damaged Korea’s credibility in the international community.” He sarcastically referenced Lee’s “hotel economics” comment, adding, “Even if Rogers didn’t endorse Lee, perhaps the campaign felt some ‘energy’ from it—so they think it’s no problem.”

He stressed that an investigation was warranted, saying, “Lee pledged a stock index of 5,000 points—was this the method behind that pledge? This is another example of the Democratic Party’s chronic pattern of manufacturing sensational issues.”

Jang also cast suspicion on those present at the controversial press event, including Lee Jae-kang, former deputy governor of Gyeonggi Province for peace, Kim Jin-hyang, former head of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, and Song Kyung-ok, a professor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. “Given their involvement, one must question who was really behind this ‘fabrication project,’” he said.

Highlighting that the head of Lee’s international cooperation team had hosted the press event and that Lee himself posted about the supposed endorsement on Facebook, Jang asked, “Now the Democratic Party claims they had no connection to it—how can that be?”

He concluded, “If voters choose a fake politician, they will only get fake peace, fake economy, and fake livelihood in return. From impersonating a bachelor to impersonating a prosecutor, and now impersonating endorsements—Lee Jae-myung, the founder of fake politics, must not become president.”